At the beginning of November 2024, 29 engaged young people and youth leaders from Spain, Italy, France, and Germany gathered in Schledorf, south of Germany, for a nine-day transformative educational experience.

Together they build up a (un)learning safe(r) space, where to share, experiment, and experience the multitude and magnitude of feelings connected with the multiple crises we live in. They took ownership of their own learning by acknowledging that the learning path they signed up for is no candy, sweet and pleasant, but „broccoli seeds“, meaning, that it requires soil, planting, watering, and attending to for a possible harvest.

Participants, guided by the expert facilitation voices of the LaLeLu collective, explored the 4 Denials of Modernity as theorized by the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Future (GTDF) collective, and learned what it means to „hospice“ our current paradigm, how to care for each other and all the living beings who inhabit the big house we all live in, and how to accept and accompany its collapse.
Participants expanded their capacity to deal with the ugly, the messy, and the broken. They sat with the discomfort and listened to its voice. They took the time to look into themselves and connect with all the different needs and internal drivers who guide us humans and made peace with their own internal controversy.

Overall, the methods and frameworks used combined personal reflection, collective engagement, and systemic understanding. Using the Circle Way method and sharing practices with active listening, participants practiced building trust and fostering empathy and understanding in group settings. Through practices like the Forum Zegg, Grief Circles, and the Council of All Beings, they learned to sit with difficult emotions—both their own and others and feel the entanglement that connects us all.

Participants were also offered to attend one collective and two private sessions with Christoph Lutz, an expert in the Alexandertechnik. That allowed them to connect with their body, improving self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Last, but not for importance, by spending these 10 days together, participants experienced how to build a loving, solidal, and supportive community that, like a living organism takes care of all its parts, despite the different backgrounds, learning how to value each person’s capabilities and respecting the needs and boundaries of the others.

A big thank you goes to the KlosterGut Schlehdorf community who hosted the group, to Avena and Jan Margen who cooked delicious vegan meals for everyone, to the youth leaders who committed to go even earlier to the venue to support the last preparation phase during the advance preparatory visit, and, last but not least, to Laura Bruns, Luis Alvarez and Leon Herweg who brought all their passion in the facilitation of this exchange.

This enriching experience was made possible through Erasmus+ co-funding from the European Union, the Gesellschaft für Körperbewusstsein funds for the Alexandertechnik sessions, and the precious partnership of the French organization Cat Farm, the Italian Servizio Civile Internazionale, and the Spanish Otra Escuela.